PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — A New Hampshire man is being credited with inspiring Donald Trump to seek political office – in 1987.
After Mike Dunbar convinced Donald Trump to make his first political appearance in Portsmouth, N.H., he was disappointed when the then businessman chose not to seek office.
And for the next 28 years, Dunbar says he rarely thought about Trump, until he finally announced his candidacy.
“If you're unhappy, you can blame me. If you're happy, you can thank me; either way, I'm the guy that did it,” Dunbar said. “I decided that he was the person to be president of the United States.”
It was 1987, and Dunbar, a New Hampshire political activist, didn't like any of the Republican candidates in the presidential primary. He thought he had a better idea.
“To kind of get the taste in his mouth, or a toe in the water -- whichever political cliché you want to use -- I thought, I'll get him up and get him on the campaign trail,” Dunbar explained.
Dunbar filed a draft for Trump for president with the Federal Election Commission and invited the Manhattan businessman to speak to the Portsmouth Rotary at Yoken's Restaurant, which was then the center of New Hampshire's political circles.
“He was very accommodating, he was very welcoming, he was just easy to talk to,” Dunbar said.
In a room packed with hundreds, Trump gave his first ever stump speech of sorts, bringing the crowd to its feet.
“I did think, yes, this guy has got what it takes,” said Dunbar.
But that premonition wouldn’t be fulfilled for nearly 30 years, until the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
“It's like planting a seed that turned into a tree. It's surreal,” Dunbar reflected.
After the speech, Dunbar says trump shook the hand of every firefighter, police officer and restaurant employee there.
It was a moment he says still resonates today.
“There's some insight into why he resonated so much with just average, common folk during the campaign. He speaks to us, he knows us and he obviously cares about us,” Dunbar said.
Dunbar treasures the mementos that that chronicle his journey with Trump. But most of all, he's grateful that the man he took a chance on, took a chance on him.
“It's hard to believe I did it. It's more like a story I hear about somebody else, than about me,” said Dunbar.